


Excuses Excuses

by FullmetalSunshine (Baekhanded)



Series: Royed OTPoly [5]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Assassination Attempt(s), Cats, Ed Swears, Guilt, M/M, Post-Canon, Secrets, Self-Worth Issues, a smol bit of hurt/comfort, ed isnt military, edward has excuses to visit, i think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:54:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25462789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baekhanded/pseuds/FullmetalSunshine
Summary: Edward has been coming around more and more often, but his excuses for showing up are becoming more and more unbelievable. Roy really should have known a storm was coming
Relationships: Edward Elric/Roy Mustang
Series: Royed OTPoly [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1814119
Comments: 4
Kudos: 80
Collections: RoyEd OTPoly 2020





	Excuses Excuses

**Author's Note:**

> Position name: Fuhrer's Office  
> Property name: Private Quarters  
> Prompt: Every morning without fail for the past 2 weeks Ed had showed up at Roy's office. Word count: 893-1824  
> House level: Ed excels in making up various excuses. They do tend to get more ridiculous as the days go by. Word count: 2032-3420  
> Hotel level: Ed is not a part of the military anymore. Word count: 3752-6304
> 
> i can say it all because youll never guess where this is going! (except you will bc tags lol)

Roy was well accustomed to a lot of things. A lot of things had happened in his life, and he wasn’t even that old yet. He had certainly seen if not all, then most. But it turned out he could still be shocked, confused, bewildered, baffled and otherwise just intrigued with a person’s actions. A certain ex-subordinate to be exact. While Roy had been...well surprised the first time he had seen Edward grace his doorstep- or well the doorstep to his office early one morning it was borning on bizarre and unusual now. 

  
  
Well he was still pleasantly disturbed now. Or not even disturbed really. Confused would be a better word. Roy Mustang was beyond confused. But it was a good confusion? He had missed Edward...more than he thought he would if he were honest. He had known he was fond of the blonde before, but going without seeing him or hearing from him for so long had really...well messed with him somewhat. Knowing the kind of trouble the Elrics, Edward in specific could get into, well he was  _ worried.  _ More often than not when he thought of them, he worried about their wellbeing. The last message he’d gotten was that they were officially leaving Resembool to travel and Roy hadn’t seen hide nor hair of either since.

Until about a week ago, when Edward showed up to the office completely unannounced. How he managed Roy would never know, there were protocols for this type of thing, for safety and such. Maybe his name just went far. Roy wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case. But what he didn’t understand was  _ why. _

No one seemed to know either. Edward hadn’t really changed much if Roy were honest either, his hair had gotten longer though but he was still just as...petite. And loud. But Roy was under the impression that it was some sort of mask, because once he greeted the others exuberantly and kicked open Roy’s door (which, really? Why did he have to do that every time? His poor wall now had a nice little decoration to prevent holes.) he became much more subdued. He didn’t really talk much, didn’t offer much in the way of greeting after a while.

But his excuses? They made sense at first- ‘hey I just got back it’s nice to see everyone!’, ‘I almost forgot what y’all looked like!’, ‘I was in the neighborhood and wanted to see if you were around and actually doin’ your duty!’ 

And while Roy- even still, looked forward to these daily greetings and meetings and just Edward’s general presence, he didn’t understand  _ why _ .

It certainly didn’t help that as time went on, Edward’s excuses got… less believable? Became less sensible. It was clear that- at the very least, the younger had just generally missed them, but the main thing Roy didn’t understand was why he tended to end up nine times out of ten, in Roy’s room. After a quick stint of catching up, he almost always found himself on Roy’s couch. 

  
  
It had been a week, and it was looking like it was about to turn in to another as, right on schedule the door was kicked open and Ed’s small blonde form walked through. He at least had a grin on, so that was...less concerning than it could have been. Roy would just...not worry. He wouldn’t even look up, he would continue pretending he was working on this very very important paperwork. Not at all because he was happy the other was there, and not at all because he would lose the will to look away once he looked first. Really he didn’t need a gun pointed at him today.

“Hey guys!” Edward was like a little beam of sunlight. The entire atmosphere of the outer room shifted as the others looked up and wore matching grins of their own. Oh Edward was a force in all forms… No Roy. Don’t look, don't pay attention, you’ll get tripped up sooner or later.

“Boss! What do we owe the pleasure of getting to see our very own Ex Fullmetal!” Havoc was the only one that could get away with trying to wriggle information from the elder Elric. 

But Edward was a different animal and much too smart to fall into Havoc’s tricks, “What? Didn’t ya miss me? I’m doing you all a favor.”   
  
“You realize,” Hawkeye spoke up, but there was a quirk to her lip so that signified whatever scathing thing she was about to say wasn’t meant in a harsh form, “you no longer work here, right? You’re causing a backup.”   
  
Ed just shrugged and perched on the edge of her desk, “To be fair, I was never really great at helping when I  _ did  _ actually work here. But it ain’t my fault y'all don’t know how to multitask~.”

Only he could get away with saying words like that, what a brat. No, don’t look! He willfully ignored the other’s laughter at Edward being Edward. He also ignored the conversation that broke from it. Roy dutifully worked on his...work…

He didn’t at all notice the telltale sound of a metal foot hitting the floor, or the sound of said metal foot’s approach.    
  
“Still don’t get a hi with the others huh, bastard?” He sounded amused though. So Roy broke his hard earned concentration and looked up, a grin on his face.

“Oh? I didn’t even realize you were here~ You’re still so hard to see after all.” He knew the other had stopped going...well feral when his height was mentioned. But Roy’s heart stuttered when Edward perched on  _ his  _ desk. “What are you doing here, Edward?”   
  
His voice was much too fond to be fair, he hoped Edward didn’t notice.

He did notice however that Edward wasn’t looking at him, was looking damn near anywhere but him. Huh...odd.

He watched the younger shrug, “Al’s cat had kittens and I wanted to see if any of you wanted them.” Huh… another weird excuse, made odder by the fact he wasn’t saying this to the others, it was just loud enough for Roy. 

“I think we’d have to see them to be sure.” He could play along.

Ed nodded sagely, as if this was the answer he had expected, “Yeah, okay that makes sense. I’ll….uh bring pictures or something i forgot to. Shoulda known you’d wanna find the prettiest one.” His snark came out pretty weak but...Roy wouldn’t say anything.

“Of course! I would need to have one at my level after all! The pet must match the owner. It is a good thing I trust Alphonse. I’m not really a cat person.” There was only one cat he liked, and he wasn’t even a cat…

“Fuck, that’s right...maybe Falman would want one...can cats even survive in Briggs weather?” He looked up thoughtfully, “I’ll have you send some letters for me! Bet I could get Havoc and Breda to snag one. I really don’t need six cats at home.”   
  
“So what you’re saying is, Alphonse is in heaven and you want to deny him the pleasure of being covered in kittens? For shame, Edward.” He grinned at Edward’s scoff.

“Shut up! No one needs six cats! If i could get rid of three it’d be great! They're always on my shit! How the hell can I research if there's a cat on every book I’ve got open!” 

It was honestly a wonder a conversation could continue for an hour when they spoke of cats doing cat things. Roy watched Ed leave and felt a stupid piece of his heart go with him.

This continued for the next couple of days...but the excuses were more and more silly, he even came in with  _ cupcakes  _ at the end of the week. And while that cemented himself and Alphonse as everyone’s absolute favorite not subordinate team mate, it just started to make Roy worried. Was he lonely? Was Alphonse keeping him out of the house for some reason?

Even still...he didn’t ask, he didn’t say a thing. No one else was able to wring anything out of him either. And really, Roy should have known the other show would drop...He should have known Edward didn’t do anything for no reason at all.   
  
He did know, but he didn’t listen to his gut.

__

It was the weekend when it happened. Roy wasn’t entirely sure what ‘it’ was, but he didn’t have to really be in that day, so he wanted to browse the shops. He might have wanted to buy someone something, but he didn’t know who or what.

He certainly didn’t expect there to be an explosion down the street. But he was ready nonetheless. 

His gloves were on and he raced towards the billowing smoke. A whole shop seemed to have been leveled, but … no one was around no one had gotten hurt. His eyes caught a glimpse of blue and he followed, it was too suspicious- no one else was around. They’d all run the moment they heard the boom. It was a ghost town. 

He followed the blue into another building, abandoned it seemed- or in need of a new owner or shop. Was it for sale? He hadn’t seen a sign… It led him to believe all buildings on this row were empty, which he should have known before. 

He chased the figure up a flight or two of stairs. And the moment he saw the billow out the window he knew it was a trap.

Another bomb went off in the building beside him, it shook the entire flood of where he was.

And then there was another boom.

This time under his feet, and above his head.

He really should have known.

__

He was conscious, but just barely. He knew he wasn’t dead, because he was hurting far too much for there to be any relief of death. It was fuzzy though, maybe he was getting there? Just at a slow pace? Oh, those were voices, he heard voices.

He turned into those, and familiarity washed over him. It didn’t worry him at all, he trusted those people...he couldn’t remember names though, how funny. Oh he was getting tired again. Maybe he should sleep, if he was pulling at him anyways and it was so dark. He knew that no matter what was happening he’d be alright…

He trusted those voices…

\----

Edward was furious and worried. He had plans in motion already, this shit shouldn’t have happened dammit! The moment the phone rang his stomach dropped. He hovered near Al who had reached the phone before him. (No, it wasn’t at all because he was serious about the cats, it wasn’t at all because he physically could no longer throw them off of him whenever he wanted. Dammit they were making him sofft!)

Al’s eyes though, that got him into motion. He stood and approached and listened cheek to cheek to the other end of the line. His heart sunk and he was out of the house before the person on the other end of the line finished speaking. Alphonse would handle the niceties, would tell them that Edward was his way and not to get  _ in  _ his way.

That fucking threat had been serious and Ed had  _ known _ . He should have fucking  _ said something. _ If that bastard was dead it was all Edward’s fault. He shoved the worry and nausea down and ran harder. He wouldn’t be surprised if he was leaving foot sized craters in his wake…

He had to get to Roy…

__

He ran onto the site like a whirlwind, head jerking in each direction trying to pinpoint where the main damage was. He spotted Hawkeye and a medit and ran there.

“Is he alright!?” He yelled and her head snapped to him, eyes wide, not expecting to see him, certainly not at this moment.

“Edward? What are you doing here?” She shook her head, knowing it was futile to try and keep him from whatever lead he was following. “I do not know what you know, and I shouldn’t be saying this anyways. But there was an attack, as you can see- The Fuhrer was the target...and they seemed to hit it head on. We have located him, but there is a lot of rubble in the way. He seems to be alright though we cannot get him to respond.”

  
  
He felt like he’d been punched but also felt relief. He had to be alright, “I’ll move shit out of the way, the moment the bastard’s in sight just grab him and get him to the hospital. I….It’s my fault.”

  
  
He shook his head before she could ask and got to work helping move rubble. With Edwards' strength and determination, as well as his general knowledge of how buildings fell, the team made quick work of getting a hole to see Roy.    
  


He wasn’t in great shape, but they could see his breath. He was at least alive. Edwards' hands wrung as he watched the medic team carefully extract him. He wrapped his arms around his waist and held tight enough he knew there’d be a bruise as he watched them take him away in their little ambulance car. 

This was all his fault, he felt like he was going to throw up.

Riza didn’t say anything when she saw his face, though he knew she wanted to.

He was surprised that she hugged him.

“I don’t know what you know, what you’re keeping from me. But there is no way this is your fault Edward. I won’t ask now, but I expect some form of report from you. I know you won’t be able to relax until you’ve seen him and know he’s alright, so I will have Havoc take you to the hospital. You both can keep the rest of us updated. Should we also call your brother with your location” She held him at arm's length and he had to look in her eyes.

He nodded slowly, “Thank you...I- i’ll tell you everything. I promise.”

  
  
She smiled, “No, you get to write it, if you’re going to be keeping secrets the least I can make you do is pay the price in paperwork.”

  
  
Ed would have groaned if he wasn’t so grateful. He just smiled at her and gave a mock salute before running off to Havoc to relay her orders. He didn’t even have to look to Hawkeye to know Edward wasn’t lying. There’d be no reason for him to. 

“Got it Boss, hop in!” He didn’t waste a second, and before he’d even really shut the door they were both on their way in the tracks of the ambulance.    
  
__

  
  
They had to wait the moment they came in, Havoc’s uniform informed the front desk nurse without words, and she directed them down the hall to a waiting area. A waiting area for the Emergency Room. From there they were directed to the surgery waiting room, which just made Edward pace. 

He couldn’t just do  _ nothing.  _ But there was nothing to  _ do. _

Oh! He jogged to the nurses station, “Hey, you got some paper and a pen I could borrow? I need to write something really important- it’s time sensitive!” 

She nodded and fished out a notepad and pen. Ed knew the recipient wouldn’t care if it was on the hospital's stationery. He went back to Havoc and started writing like mad. He felt the other watching, but knew he wouldn’t be able to figure out what he was doing. 

It was a code. One he and Al had perfected and shared with a few select third party people. This was why it was his fault. He should have  _ said.  _

“I dunno what you’re up to Boss, but I know that face you’re making, what could you possibly have to feel guilty for? No y'know what, don't even answer, cause there’s  _ nothing.  _ Write your little...whatever but you gotta settle down, after you're done, and we get some info, I'm picking up your brother and I'm treating you both to a meal, and I'm gonna take a look at your cats too. You shut that mind down for a minute and stop feeling guilty over things you can’t control.” Havoc gave a flick to his antenna and settled back again, staring at the ceiling.

Ed huffed- he couldn’t just say anything but...the other was right in the fact that he couldn’t do anything  _ now. _ And it’d be good to get rid of some of those damn cats.

He made quick work of his letter and shoved it into his pocket, he’d used up every bit of paper from the pad the nurse gave him and he gave her an apologetic smile as he returned the pen. She simply laughed and told him he must have been on a roll. She didn’t know how right she was…

The trip to get Al (and subsequently slip the letter into an envelope and such to be sent) took no more than a moment or two. Havoc fell for two kittens and Ed knew the poor fool wouldn’t be able to pick between them. He wasn’t even a pet person but sometimes you gotta listen to your heart, no matter how stupid that sounded. 

Edward tried so hard to keep his worries on the back burner of his mind. It was a little easier with the positivity Al just generally held and how Edward was almost always immediately in a state of nirvana or some shit because he loved the little shit so much. Plus when he got to tease Havoc it was always a fun time.

How hours had passed, Ed didn’t know but they kept Al with them when they drove back to the hospital. Once they found out Roy was out of surgery- healthy and in one piece but had suffered several broken bones and a bit of a head wound, but could receive visitors, they made themselves scarce. An excuse on their tongue to pick out cats and cards.

Ed could see through them but he didn’t care, he just followed the nurse to the room and slumped in the chair beside the bed. How the bastard still managed to look good despite being in the fucking hospital Ed didn’t know.

He sighed and slouched against the side of the bed, resting his head in his fleshy hand. He didn’t move or speak for hours, but eventually his guilt was weighing too much and he already had so much to carry around. Besides...he wasn’t awake so Ed could let loose all he wanted and Roy would be none the wiser. 

  
  
“This is all my fault you know… It’s the whole fucking reason I’ve been in your space all the damn time even though I’m not in the military anymore. You know how Al’s been- well no you wouldn’t know that. He has a friend in Drachma- well I think it’s a little more than friendship but whatever that’s for later discussion, but he’s got this person, and apparently he had gotten a threat against you a couple weeks ago and I...I thought if I was there- if I could just be around you when you were at work, then I could stop it. It’s what all those weak excuses were for- I was trying to keep you safe and I fucking failed. I can’t even imagine what Hawkeye’s gonna say when she finds out I knew shit and didn’t tell her…

  
  
I just- I thought I could do it- that I could actually keep someone I cared about safe. What a stupid thought, right? I couldn’t before and I clearly sure as shit can’t now. I won’t be surprised if you’re pissed when you wake up and find out….i probably would be. But...well yeah- I should have told you, and I’m so sorry. 

I guess it wouldn’t’a changed much though right? Bomb attack in the middle of the city? Of course you were gonna run to it- but maybe if I was  _ there _ or you  _ knew _ you would have gotten out of there before detonation. I’m glad it’s just a few broken bones...I don’t know what I would have done if my negligence really got you hurt.” he felt his eyes betray him and tear up. He let out a wet, harsh laugh and wiped his face viciously, “fuck...look at me, fucking crying- I don’t deserve to be upset. Hell i don’t even deserve to be here, but i’m selfish and I need to know you’re safe even if I gotta run and hide in Xing for a few months. Maybe I should join the military again...at least then I'd be able to keep a better watch on your ass...your own personal bodyguard. That’s something Fuhrers always had right? I never paid much attention before- guess it didn’t matter cause we were being run by a fucking tyrant homunculous anyways…”

He sighed once more and rested his face in both hands, “Why am I always fucking up...why can’t I just say the words I need to- that I should and leave it at that…”

It was quiet for a moment, then, “Then you wouldn’t be the Edward Elric I've come to care about.”   


  
The rough voice startled Ed so badly he knocked his chair over. He stared wide eyed at Roy’s bleary ones. “You- what did you hear?”

  
  
Roy hummed and tried to sit up, forcing Ed to help him, “I think just about all of it. I won’t deny it would have been nice to know there was a threat out on me, but I also won’t deny that it was quite nice just getting to bask in your presence these past two weeks.”

  
  
Ed scoffed, “Bask? What the hell I know you didn't buy any of that shit- but Havoc  _ is _ getting kittens, I'm sure by now Al’s talked him into two and the poor fucker’s in over his head.”

  
  
Roy wheezed a laugh, “Please don’t make me laugh for at least another week, i’m  _ tender _ Edward...but in seriousness, do you not realize the light you give off? Especially when you smile...it’s been a true gift.”

  
  
Edward felt his face heat, “Careful...or i’ll start thinking you really care about me.” as more than just an ex subordinate. 

Roy’s eyes cleared from the pain and he stared at Edward, “You would be right about that. I don’t know how, or when, but I think i’ve grown to really care about you.” 

  
  
Edward...blinked, “As…?”

  
  
“Whatever you’ll have me as, really. I simply want to keep you in my life, selfishly- closely. But I will accept anything.”   
  


“Anything…? What the fuck Roy, you say shit  _ now?” _ He was blushing.

Roy smiled, a goofy thing, “What can I say? Anesthetic makes me  _ honest.” _

“Remind me to keep you from needing it in the future.” he rolled his eyes, hoping the other didn’t catch on.

But that was too much to hope for, because Roy beamed like a little kid that got their pick of a candy store, “You’re staying?”

Edward sighed, one final time. “However long you’ll have me…”

“Forever then, or until you grow tired of keeping me out of the weeds.”

Edward felt a small, almost shy smile form across his face as he finally met Roy’s eyes, “Forever then.”

Forever it was...Edward always had the back of the people he loved.

  
“Or until Hawkeye kills me.”

  
  
“So until Sunday.”


End file.
